Menlo women in position to win Cal Pac soccer title

The Menlo College women's soccer team clinched at least a second-place tie in the Cal Pac Conference following Sunday's 2-1 victory over host Soka University.

The Lady Oaks (8-2-1 in Cal Pac play, 11-3-1 overall) can win the title outright if they can beat host William Jessup on Saturday. The Warriors (9-2, 11-6) lead the conference by two points.

Jocelyn Aguilar scored with 22 seconds remaining, with an assist from Danielle McCarthy, to give Menlo the win and set up the showdown with William Jessup in Rocklin at 1:30 p.m.

The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the game's fourth minute, putting Menlo on its heels right away before rallying.

"I was proud of the team and their ability to compete for 90 minutes," Menlo coach Keith Lambert. said "Soka came out with a lot of energy on their senior day and definitely took it to us for the first 25 minutes."

Oaks' senior Erica Hunting scored her third goal of the season, off an assist from Natalie Ingram, to even the score in the 36th minute.

That's the way it stood as time was winding down. Menlo continued to pressure the Lions and created a few scoring opportunities before finally breaking through in the final minute.

"It was a great set of results on the road for us, Lambert said. "Both Marymount and Soka are good competition and we're doing what we need to do to be prepared for the end of the season."

The Cal Pac Conference tournament is set to begin Friday, Nov. 15 at Embry-Riddle University in Prescott, Ariz.

Football

Menlo had no answer for host Midwestern State on Saturday, dropping a 64-7 nonconference decision to the Mustangs, who won their seventh straight.

The Oaks recorded their only score in its first drive of the second half when Jordan Hakuole found some space and broke free for a 22-yard touchdown run to finish a 6-play, 55-yard drive.

The Lady Oaks (9-1, 15-6) must win its final two matches, both on the road, to match La Sierra's 11-1 record. The Golden Eagles (11-1, 20-8) completed their conference season Sunday with a win over UC Merced.

La Sierra and Menlo split their two matches this season, each winning at home. The Lady Oaks go to Pacific Union on Thursday and UC Merced on Friday.

The conference tournament will also be held at UC Merced beginning Friday, Nov. 16.

"I have to give Simpson credit because their defense was outstanding tonight against our outside hitters," Menlo coach Atlee Hubbard said. "We changed some things up and were able to take the match. They played a good game especially in front of a big crowd on senior night."

Senior Nicole Yap came up big with 16 kills and 25 digs in one of her best efforts. Courtney Calicdan added 13 kills and Bayley Blackney had a season-high 11 kills.

"Overall there was a really good energy and I think that helped us stay in all three sets because in all three sets we were down," Hubbard said. "We were able to just stay with it, stay aggressive and stay composed and that's what you need to have when it's really close."

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Menlo Athletics

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